The Karelians

Who rules

Name

none named

Title

no ruler: the Karelian communities and their leading men

Confidence

high

No Karelian leader is named for the years round 1200. The Novgorod chronicle names the Karelians (Korela) as a people in 1143 and 1191 (en.wikipedia Karelians, Finnish-Novgorodian wars).

The realm that morning

On 1 January 1200 the Karelians govern themselves under their own leading men, in alliance with Novgorod and within its sphere. No Novgorodian officer, fort or tribute collector is attested in their land, and no Swedish or Danish presence. Across the borders: the Tavastians and the Uusimaa coast (finland) to the west of the Kymi; the Sami forests (sami) to the north; Novgorod's lands (outside) south of the isthmus on the Neva, at Ladoga and east of Ladoga round Olonets.

Threats

• Novgorod turning alliance into lordship (the 13th century)
• Swedish and Danish crusading in the Gulf of Finland
• Tavastian raids in revenge

Seat note

There is no capital. The marker stands at Korela (Käkisalmi, now Priozersk), the Karelian stronghold at the mouth of the Vuoksi on Lake Ladoga.

Consort

none (no ruler)

Heirs

none (no ruler)

Peoples and districts

The isthmus and the Saimaa shore (Karelian isthmus): the later pogosts of Äyräpää (lower Vuoksi), Jääski (upper Vuoksi) and Lappee, with the Viipuri bay. Käkisalmi and the Ladoga shore (Ladoga Karelia): Korela at the Vuoksi mouth, the rich Ladoga villages north to Sortavala and east to Salmi, and the forests behind them towards Kitee. Savilahti (Savonia): the Savonian settlement round Mikkeli, ceded by Novgorod to Sweden only in 1323.

The names of the pogosts are those of the 14th-century treaties, not of 1200.

Officers and household

None attested. Later evidence (14th century) shows Novgorod ruling Korela through its own officers and Karelian leading men; nothing of the kind is recorded for 1200.

Great men and kindreds

None named. The rich cemeteries of Ladoga Karelia of the crusade period, with weapons, silver ornaments and imported goods, are generally read as the graves of a prosperous leading class of fur traders and warriors (the general archaeological picture; individual sites are not checked here). No name survives.

Strongholds

Korela (Käkisalmi): the original fortification was built by the Karelians and the site has a 12th-century layer (en.wikipedia Korela Fortress). Tiurinlinna (Tiversk) on the Vuoksi in the parish of Räisälä is the other great Karelian hillfort of the period (its dating is not checked here). The Swedish castle at Viipuri (1293) and the Novgorodian rebuilding of Korela (14th century) are later.

Trade and wealth

Furs above all (squirrel, marten, sable, beaver, fox), taken by hunting and as tribute from the Sami of the north, sold to Novgorod and to Gotlandic and German traders; fish; iron from the bogs; silver and Russian and western goods in return. The Vuoksi and the Saimaa lakes carry trade between Ladoga and the Gulf of Finland; Lake Ladoga and the Volkhov lead to Novgorod.

Levy and war

Boat-borne raids on the lakes and the coast and winter raids on skis. Recorded: the attack on the Tavastians in 1143 (two ships lost) and the joint raid with Novgorod in 1191. The Swedish Erik's Chronicle (1320s) blames the Karelians for burning Sigtuna on 12 August 1187, but the Visby annals say only 'heathens', later Swedish writers blamed the Estonians, the Russian chronicles are silent, and many historians doubt that Ladoga boats could reach Sigtuna (en.wikipedia Pillage of Sigtuna).

Raids on Hålogaland, with the Kvens, are recorded only later (1271).

Church and religion

Pagan in 1200. Orthodox influence comes through Novgorod and Ladoga; an attempt to baptise the Karelians is recorded in 1227 (en.wikipedia Karelians). No church or priest is attested in Karelia in 1200.

Relations

Novgorod: ally and senior partner (joint raid of 1191); its prince changes in 1199-1200, when the boy Sviatoslav Vsevolodovich, born 27 March 1196, son of Vsevolod of Vladimir, becomes prince of Novgorod (1200-1205; the month is not pinned: en.wikipedia Sviatoslav III of Vladimir). That is an outside-sheet matter. Ladoga (Aldeigjuborg): Novgorod's lake port and market, the Karelians' nearest town (outside). The Tavastians and the Finns: enemies (1143, 1191).

The Swedes: hostile; the Swedes attacked Ladoga in 1164 (en.wikipedia First Swedish Crusade). The Sami: the Karelians trade with them and take tribute from them in the north (later evidence: the Norway-Novgorod agreements of the 13th and 14th centuries). The Norwegians: rivals for the Sami tribute in the far north.

Wars and feuds in force

No war is recorded for the winter of 1199-1200 and no truce is known. The feud with the Tavastians is open (last recorded raid 1191). No recorded clash with the Swedes since 1164 (or 1187, if the Sigtuna raid was theirs).

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

1. 1200 (no dated event)No event touching the Karelians is recorded for 1200.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1227 (after this year)Prince Yaroslav of Novgorod has many Karelians baptised into the Orthodox faith.
2. 1278, 1293-1295, 1314, 1323 (after this year)Novgorod makes war on the Karelians (1278); the Swedes build Viipuri castle (1293) and occupy Korela (1294-95); the Karelians rise against Novgorod (1314); the Treaty of Nöteborg (12 August 1323) splits Karelia, Sweden taking Savilahti, Jääski and Äyräpää (en.wikipedia Karelians, Treaty of Nöteborg).

Places of note

• Korela (Käkisalmi): Karelian stronghold and trading place at the Vuoksi mouth (Korela)
• Sortavala: the northern Ladoga shore, rich in Karelian cemeteries and hillforts
• Viipuri bay: a Karelian landing on the gulf; no castle until 1293
• Savilahti: the Savonian settlement in the Karelian world (Savonia)

Where the sources disagree

• en.wikipedia First Swedish Crusade counts a Swedish campaign of 1201 in the Novgorod chronicle. The entry usually cited for that year is Novgorod sending the overseas merchants ('Varangians') away without a peace, not a campaign; not checked here. Do not treat it as a Swedish attack without a better source.
• en.wikipedia History of Karelia says Russian colonisation of Karelia began about 1100 'around the time the Korela fortress was built'; this sits uneasily with en.wikipedia Karelians and Korela Fortress, which make the first fortification Karelian. Followed here: a Karelian stronghold, no Novgorodian fort in 1200.

Evidence: Two Novgorod chronicle entries (1143, 1191), archaeology and later treaties. Nothing is dated to 1199-1200. The pogost names and borders are 14th-century.

On the map: Drawn through the provinces Karelian isthmus, Ladoga Karelia and Savonia. The western edge on the Kymi and the northern edge towards the Sami forests are judgements; the south of the isthmus on the Neva is left to Novgorod's Izhorian lands (outside).